Cybersecurity Is The Key To Protection In The Healthcare Sector

Digitalisation has brought us multiple benefits in patient care, improving the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, facilitating access to the healthcare system and thus achieving greater efficiency in hospital management.

However, it has also exposed the industry to high-impact computer threats, making it more necessary than ever to implement advanced security techniques that guarantee the confidentiality of information.

Cybersecurity landscape in 2024

IT activity in the healthcare sector has seen a substantial increase following the outbreak of the Covid-19 crisis, becoming a window of opportunity for cybercriminal groups to carry out attacks against hospital centers, healthcare institutions and medical service providers.

As a result, cybersecurity has gained particular attention in the health sector, since a breakdown in the health service can cause significant damage to patients, staff and the health institution itself, such as the theft of confidential information and even the paralyzing of activity.

Thus, during the first half of the year, the global health sector was seriously affected, with data breaches increasing by 54.54 per cent compared to the last half of 2022, especially in the United States and Europe, according to S21sec's Threat Landscape Report, released in 2023.

These threats mainly translate into ransomware cyberattacks, a type of malware that blocks and encrypts information through economic extortion; or the intrusion of third parties into internal hospital networks to extract information from patients' medical records.

Hacker groups have taken advantage of the saturation of hospital services during the Covid-19 health crisis

At least half of the external intrusions during the first half of the year came from suppliers in the industrial sector, software companies and technology companies that work in process automation, making them the gateway to cyber-attacks and therefore a priority for cybercriminals.

Similarly, the West's military support for the war between Russia and Ukraine has become one of the main reasons why cyber-attacks have been directed at hospitals, particularly the operations of Anonymous Sudan, a group of uncertain origin that has carried out cyber-attack campaigns motivated by political and religious interests, with the support of pro-Russia organizations. This group has not only carried out its actions in North American and European territory but has also concentrated its efforts on carrying out attacks against hospitals in India, in response to the defense of the Muslim community there.

How to improve the cybersecurity posture in the healthcare sector?

At the beginning of 2023, the NIS2 Directive was launched, with the aim of guaranteeing a high level of cybersecurity, standardised between the different sectors.

To be able to build environments with a higher level of cybersecurity, it is necessary to invest in monitoring and response capabilities, managed SoC services and endpoint telemetry that cover the company's entire exposure surface, enabling threat detection and containment, combined with endpoint containment response capabilities and even advanced forensic services (DFIR).

On the other hand, through Actionable Intelligence, which makes it possible to identify potential risks and threats before they even occur, with solid Digital Risk Protection Services (DRPS), or through strict access controls, the protection of devices, both IT and OT, and continuous audits over time.